Spotify's Incentives and Industry Milestones

Sponsored by Podscribe. Newly Launched: June 2025 Industry Rankings
See the top podcasts, publishers, and advertisers in the industry’s ultimate ranker.
Explore the full rankings to spot the leaders and biggest movers.

• Spotify is wooing some potential video creators with promises of free ad money. Natalie Jarvey of The Ankler published a leaked Spotify deck; and one slide shows an incentive of $5,000 of free ad credits within Spotify Ads Manager to help eligible new video creators to promote their shows. Spotify often highlights that many creators see a growth in consumption after adding video: but it hasn’t mentioned that it gives $5,000 of free ads to drive that consumption increase.
• Today, June 26, marks the thirteenth anniversary of the launch of the Apple Podcasts iOS app in 2012. The app featured a faux reel-to-reel tape deck, apparently a nod to the Braun TG 60 tape recorder by Dieter Rams. In the Apple Podcasts app, speed controls were marked with a tortoise and a hare; and promotion for This American Life on the editorially-curated “featured” section. The app also featured a “Top Stations” discovery feature. Here’s a video from CTTechJunkie showing how the app worked; a positive review from Revision3; and this demo from GetConnected Media which shows how the “Top Stations” feature worked: with an audio/video switch right at the top. Hey, there’s an idea...
  • It’s the twentieth anniversary of podcasts going into iTunes on Saturday.
• 86% of Gen Z listen to music or consume podcasts ​to help boost their mood, according to a new study. The Gen Z Report, from Edison Research and SiriusXM Media, says that 13-24 year-olds are most concerned with the economy, social injustice and political division. 8% of their audio time is spent with podcasts; they discover podcasts most-often by “searching on YouTube”.

> > > Read more of today’s podcast industry news stories on the Podnews website: and get our free daily newsletter.

Classifieds - your job or ad here

• Shouldn't Your Show Be Bigger? — Why isn't your show growing? This podcast audit shows you what you're doing right and what needs work. We look at your website as well. Includes a month at the School of Podcasting.
• Audiencelift - YouTube Channel Growth for Podcasts — Ready to grow your podcast on YouTube? With targeted strategies, you can increase visibility, attract listeners, and turn views into subscribers. Start growing your YouTube Channel Today!

Gold supporters: Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, PodMatch, The $100 MBA, Cloud10, The Podglomerate, Sounds Profitable, Podscribe, Simplecast, Cohost, audioBoom, Steve Lack: Audio, Resound, Audiohook, SALT, RedCircle, Riverside.fm, Jar Podcast Solutions, Podchaser, Awesound, Disctopia, Knucklehead Media Group, Acast, Podpage websites, Evergreen Podcasts, We Edit Podcasts

Silver supporters: Audacia Audio, Gamut Podcast Network, Bumper, Goalhanger, Sounds Debatable, Magellan AI, Red Seat Ventures, Gumball, Jonekiri, Voxtopica, Castbox, Gilded Audio, Compliance Podcast Network, Frequency, Huberman Lab, The Podcast Haven, Ausha, The Roost, Podium , POW PR, Storyboard, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Tink Media, Ask Ralph Christian Finance, Truefans, SoundStack, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Diversion Podcasts, Blubrry, Podcast Taxi, matchmaker.fm, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Castos, Rephonic, Ossa Collective, Double Elvis Productions, Zvook, Oxford Road, Rhapsody Voices, Transistor, Lemonada Media, Wondery, Heartcast Media50, Headliner, Jam Street Media, Optimal Living Daily, Hear.Here.Singapore, Podcast Partnership, Content10x, Ad Results Media, StreamGuys, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, Podcast Movement, Podigy, School of Podcasting, Revolver Podcasts, Sonix, Lower Street, Adopter Media, Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights

Our supporters pay for Podnews, so everyone can read it. Join them today.

Image: Alexander Schimmeck